Beech Tree News Network

Two of my DAR Patriots are Caleb Carman and his son Joseph Carman, who both served in the American Revolution. Caleb gave Patriotic Service, loaned money to the Colonies, in New Jersey where he lived and suffered losses because of the war. He may also have been the Caleb Carman who was referenced in a Wiki article about The Battle of the Kegs. It is said David Bushell and a group of colonists built kegs, under the specifications of Caleb Carman, and filled them with gunpowder to be floated downriver to hopefully intersect with British ships and explode as river mines. Little damage was done using this method of attack as the British had moved their ships due to ice, but a ballad was written by Frances Hopkinson about the experience. 

Joseph Carman served as a Private under Captain William Croghan of the 8th Virginia Company, enlisting at the age of about 30 at Fort Pitt. At the time the fort’s location could have been called the “wild west” and was located there to protect the frontier. Joseph participated in Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774 against the Indians. He served for a time in 1776 with the1st  Virginia. It is likely that he crossed the Delaware with Washington on Christmas Day for the attack on Trenton and participated in other battles in the area. Finally in the spring he rejoined the 8th  Virginia , and could have been at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. Muster rolls confirm he was present and healthy during this time. His Continental service concluded when his two-year enlistment expired near the end of the winter encampment at Valley Forge as referenced in documents found on ancestry.com and familysearch.org. 

Not many years later Carman was living at Well’s station, a frontier Kentucky settlement located about halfway between Louisville and Frankfort. In the fall of 1787, Carman and two companions set out on a buffalo hunt. They headed a few miles north toward Drennon’s Lick, where they were ambushed by a party of Indians, possibly Shawnee, who fired on them. His companions were able to escape. Carman was not as lucky. His dismembered body was later found near an Indian camp by a rescue party and was retrieved for burial in Jefferson County, KY. 

Caleb Carman, my 7th great grandfather, was born in June of 1708 at Middletown, Monmouth County, New jersey and died at Bordentown, Burlington County, NJ in July of 1807. He married Elizabeth Wood in 1745. They had a son, Joseph Carman, my 6th great grandfather, born in October 1745 at Bordentown, Burlington Co, NJ who died at Jefferson County, KY in 1787. Joseph married Mary LaRue (1753-1848) in 1768. Joseph and Mary had a son, Caleb Carman, my 5th great grandfather, born in February 1772 in Virginia and died in Hardin County, KY in October 1835. Caleb married Amy Keith (1775-1846) in November 1798.They had a daughter, Anna Carman, my 4th great grandmother, in November of 1804 who died in LaRue County, KY in October 1866. Anna married John Duncan (1804-1876), he died in Marion County, KY. Anna and John had a daughter, Elizabeth Duncan, my 3rd great grandmother, born in September 1826 in KY and died in 1902. She married Thomas B. Mills (1824-1911) in September 1846 in LaRue County, KY. Thomas and Anna Mills had a son John D. Mills, my 2nd great grandfather, in January 1848 and died in June 1929. John married Martha Ann Wade (1843-1924) of Marion County, KY in December 1871.John and Martha had a daughter, Georgia A. Mills, my great grandmother, born in August 1877in Marion County and died in July 1918 in Marion County. Georgia married Joseph Marion Sullivan (1875-1942) in October 1896 in Marion County, KY.  John and Georgia had a son Edward Sullivan, my grandfather, born in October 1911 in Marion County and died in 1991.  Edward married Leona Rose Hunt (1915-2001) on September 19, 1931, in Taylor County, KY. They had a son Marion Wilton Sullivan, my father, born in June 1932 in Marion County. He married my mother of Taylor County, Geraldine Pike (1933- 2019) in December 1950 in Marion County, KY.

      As part of America 250, 1776-2026, the Butler County Chapter NSDAR members will continue our series of articles about our Patriots of the American Revolution. If you have a Revolutionary Patriot in your family line and are interested in joining our DAR chapter please contact the Regent, Lynda O’Driscoll at 270.734.5137 or any chapter member.